Turkey and Egypt to hold 'normalisation' talks in May: foreign minister

Turkey and Egypt cut off relations in 2013, after the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi was overthrown as Egyptian president.

MENA

1 min read

The New Arab Staff & Agencies

15 April, 2021

Turkey and Egypt cut off ties after Morsi was overthrown in 2013 [AFP/Getty]

A Turkish delegation will visit Egypt next month as part of Ankara's efforts to mend ties, the foreign minister said on Thursday.

"Egypt invited a delegation from Turkey. The delegation will go in early May," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told the private NTV broadcaster.

"We will discuss openly how to normalise relations."

Turkey and Egypt froze ties after the 2013 overthrow of ex-Islamist, Muslim Brotherhood president Mohamed Morsi, who forged close ties with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Read more: What's driving the thaw in Egypt-Turkey relations?

That year, both countries expelled each others' ambassadors and Cairo had then declared the Turkish envoy "persona non grata."

But Turkish officials last month said Ankara had established the first diplomatic contacts with Cairo since 2013 as part of wider efforts to repair relations with other Middle Eastern rivals.

Cavusoglu on Thursday said the first delegation talks would be at the level of deputy foreign ministers, ahead of a contact between the ministers.

"I hope we will all together further improve relations," he said.

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